Thousands of food crops are going extinct.

The best way to preserve the diversity of food is to eat it.

Can digital tools help

farmers and eaters build

vibrant food systems?

We think so. We're a COLLABORATIVE FELLOWSHIP incubating open source projects and digital tools that help eaters and growers work together to create diverse agricultural landscapes and vibrant local food systems.

WHAT WE'RE CULTIVATING

We're on a mission to restore diversity to agriculture.

Food Fotobank

Building Market Demand for "New" Foods

Application Development | 2011

Content Creation | US, Canada | 2011-2014

Heirlooms are ready for their close-up! A creative-commons photo library of less-familiar fruit and vegetable varieties for farmers, educators, bloggers, local food entrepreneurs and other champions of crop diversity to use free-of-charge as they build stronger food systems. Guest Pollin8rs: Keith Ellenbogen, Sarah Kelsen, Chris Lindstrom, Kenzie Stevens, Will Szal

A photographic celebration that catalogs the broad diversity of food-plants growing in the Crow River Region of MN, and uses non-traditional exhibition sites to educate and engage community members in a shift towards increased planting/foraging and eating of these foods. A model for place-based art as a catalyst for local food system change.

Eat the Vote

Big Idea: Surfacing "Invisible" Demand

Proof-of-Concept | Minnesota | 2013-14

Design | 2011-2012

People can buy foods that farmers grow. Farmers grow foods they know people want to buy. But what about the foods people wished they could buy, but just can't find...how can farmers identify these? Eat the Vote: A collaborative crop "wish-list" experience for communities to request, recommend and collectively rank the foods they want to add to local agricultural landscapes.

Pollin8

Big Ideas: Micro CSAs & Co-Creative Commerce

Proof-of-Concept | Minnesota | 2013-14

Design | 2011-2012

Pollin8 "new" crops into being planted locally...Imagine browsing a seed catalog filled with more fruits, vegetables, herbs, grains, and mushrooms than you even knew existed. You browse. You salivate. You marvel at intense colors, odd shapes, and fanciful names. You are reminded of flavors from your grandmother’s garden you haven’t tasted in years. And now, instead of placing an order for seeds to be shipped to you to plant and grow yourself, you click a button to request a local farmer grow these foods for you: 1. Commit to pre-purchasing a share in a single-item CSA if enough other people are interested; 2. Recruit others to Pollin8 this crop with you; 3. Pollin8d! Crop is planted; 4. Enjoy flavors otherwise unavailable for purchase!

Hardy Kiwi, Jujube, Che...these fruits and other perennial foods you may not be familiar with are resistant to pests and disease, tolerant to a wide range of weather conditions, make beautiful landscaping specimines...and they may just be the future of flavor. Discover delicious edibles that are part of a regenerative agriculture in this web series. Guest Pollin8r: Michael Judd.

Real Foods Data

Open Source Information Infrastructure

Design | Ongoing

The way we organize information affects our ability to use it. What lessons do biomimetic design have to teach us about the way we organize and store information about the hundreds of thousands of plants that are the source of real food? The vision of the Real Foods Data project is to offer API-accessible information detailing seed, growing, culinary, historical, cultural, and availability/source information for regionally-specific plant based foods. Efforts include developing open data frameworks, standards and tools that support the collection and sharing of in situ observational data.

Anne Nester

Mary Sue Stevens

Photographer | Teacher | Author

Constance Carlson

Writer | Community Architect | Listener | Cultivator

President@Local Roots Co-Op

YOU?

APPLY TO POLLIN8R'S 2015 COLLABORATIVE FELLOWSHIP

Pollin8r Fellowship

Pollin8r's Collaborative Fellowship takes different forms at different times based on the efforts, needs and offerings of its members. The value of this Fellowship flows from a well-curated cohort that participates in defining what support they will receive and offer one another. For this reason, our application process is a rolling one and begins with an interview. Please use the form below to let us know who you are and how best to get in touch with you. A Pollin8r will contact you within a week to set up a conversation.

Thanks for your interest in Pollin8r's Collaborative Fellowship. A Pollin8r will be in touch within a week to set up an initial exploratory conversation.

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Support for other awesome food system shifters

We donate 1/2 day "tech" and/or "co-creation" consulting blocks on a rolling basis to others who are working hard for food system change. If your efforts support vibrant, local, diverse, regenerative agriculture, apply by telling us a bit about what you're working on and what kind of support you're looking for.